A Forgotten Page of History
by FluffyOverlord
Summary: Benjamin Franklin Gates was entrusted with the information on Page 47 by the President himself. But what exactly was written on that page? Only Ben knows and he plans to do everything in his power to help re-write a page of history that has been blank.
1. Chapter 1

"**PART 1"**

Benjamin Gates could be seen hustling down a crowded sidewalk, the light of the passing stores, streetlights, and cars illuminating every detail. He was straightening the tie around his neck and trying to button the last few button on his suit coat.

"Riley, how much time do I have?" Ben asked, his finger was now pressed to his ear and the edge of a small earpiece could be seen.

"Ten minutes," Riley's voice could be heard saying through the earpiece.

"Alright I can see it; I should be there in five."

"Do you have the package?"

Ben reached into his pocket and squeezed something that was inside.

"Yeah," Ben answered.

"Alright you should be able to get inside easy enough," said Riley. Ben took a deep breath and continued towards his destination, before he knew it he was at the front door. His hand pressed again the handle and he stepped inside.

"I'm in," Ben said.

"Is she there?" asked Riley, and Ben scanned the tables then he spotted her against the back window.

"Yeah, she's right where I wanted her."

"Sir, do you have a reservation?" a man dressed in a tux asked from the front podium.

"Yes I do, it's under Benjamin Gates," Ben answered, approaching the man, the man looked in a book before nodding.

"Follow me to your table."

"Good luck, Ben," Riley said.

"Thanks," said Ben, and took the earpiece from his ear and slipped it into his pocket. He followed the man to the table and thanked him before taking his seat.

"Glad you could join me, Benjamin," the woman said, sipping on a glass of wine.

"I'm right on time, Abigail," said Ben, picking up his own glass and taking a drink. Abigail turned to the clock on the wall and Ben looked to it as well, it said 8:05.

"What five minutes?" Ben asked. "Better than the last time we made a date."

"I don't believe that could be considered a date, seeing as you didn't show at all," said Abigail.

"Well I made it this time."

"I suppose I can forgive you for being late."

"Great!"  
Ben leaned forward across the table and kissed Abigail softly on the lips before taking his seat again.

"Now I'm curious, Ben, why such an extravagant place for dinner?" Abigail asked, leaning forward to rest her chin in the palm of her hand.

"You always said you wanted to go somewhere like this," said Ben.

"No I didn't."

"My mistake."

"You're up to something, Benjamin Gates."

Ben smirked and Abigail gave a small smile.

"Sorry to interrupt," a man said, stopping in front of the table. "My name is Derek, I shall be your waiter this evening. Can I start you off with an appetizer or a finer selection of our wine?"

"Let me look," Ben said, he picked up the menu and looked it over trying to figure out if he could pronounce any of the names on it at all.

"We'll have the muscadet and pâté with a small bowl of fleur de sel," Abigail said.

"A fine choice, mademoiselle," Derek said, he took the menus then left.

"I was having trouble deciding," said Ben.

"I'm sure you were," Abigail said.

"Care to tell me what any of what you ordered is?"

"You still wouldn't understand it if I did."

Ben leaned back in his chair and reached into his pocket, he could feel the small box between his fingertips and was relieved he hadn't lost it.

"What are you thinking about?" Abigail asked, drawing Ben back from his thoughts.

"I'm still thinking about the book," Ben said, it may not be what was on his mind at the moment but it had been on his mind a lot lately.

"You still haven't heard anything about it?"

"No, not yet."

"Well how about just for tonight you think about something other than the book?"

"I think I can manage that."

Ben reached his hand across the table and Abigail met it with her own hand halfway.

The waiter, Derek, came back out and picked up their old wineglasses, he replaced them with new glasses and poured a new wine into each.

"Enjoy, your pâté will be out soon," said Derek.

"Thank you," Ben said, the waiter inclined his head then left again; Ben picked up his glass and took a drink.

"Wow, this is really good," Ben said, taking another sip.

"I like to think I have good taste," said Abigail smiling. Ben reached into his pocket again and pulled the small box out. While Abigail was sipping on her drink he opened the box and inspected it. A silver ring lay in the velvet case, there was a three karat, princess cut diamond on a platinum band, nestled neatly inside. He shut the box and tried to work up enough courage to get down on one knee. Just as he was beginning to sit up, he felt the phone in his other pocket vibrate. He went to grab it planning on turning it off but when he saw the number on the caller ID he couldn't.

"It's him," Ben said, looking up at Abigail.

"Answer it," said Abigail, setting her drink down and leaning forward intently. Ben opened up his phone and put it to his ear.

"Hello?" said Ben.

"Hello, Benjamin, I think it's time we meet again," a male voice said on the other end. "How soon can I expect you?"

"I can be there by tomorrow."

"Good, I'll have my people meet you at the gate."

The line went dead and Ben closed his phone.

"Want to go on a trip?" Ben asked.

"What kind of question is that?" Abigail asked smiling; she stood up and pulled her purse over her arm. "I guess we're now having take out."

Ben chuckled and stood up as well, replacing the box back into his pocket, it seemed it wasn't going to be used tonight after all.


	2. Chapter 2

**"PART 2"**

An unusually loud ringing noise broke through the peaceful silence that a moment ago, Riley Poole, had been sleeping in. He groaned and chose to ignore the phone hoping the ringing would stop and he could fall right back asleep. To his luck the ringing did stop and he felt himself drifting off to sleep, but then his luck changed as the phone began ringing once again. Figuring the only way he was going to make the ringing stop was to pick up the phone and shout at whoever was rude enough to be calling in the middle of the night, he reached over to his nightstand.  
His hand collided with many different objects which hit the floor with even louder bangs and clanks before his hand was able to wrap around the phone. He put the phone to his ear not caring who was on the other end as long as they were available for him to cuss out.

"Did you even care to look at the clock before calling me?" Riley asked in a groggy voice.

"Hello, Riley, good evening to you too," came Ben's voice, Riley groaned and lay back in the bed closing his eyes.

"Is there a reason for this torturous phone call, Ben?"

"_He_ called."

Riley's eye flew open and he sat up reaching over to turn on the lamp on his nightstand.

"What did he say?" Riley asked, now wide awake.

"Care to take a trip to Washington D.C.?" asked Ben.

"Do I ever."

"Great! Meet us at the airport by 8:00; I got us tickets for the 8:30 flight."

"How did you know I would even agree to go?"

Riley could hear Ben chuckling on the other end. "That's funny, Riley, just pack your bags and be there by 8."

Riley heard the phone go dead and hung it up before laying back in bed, he felt sure going back to sleep wouldn't be possible now. Ben had been pretty hush hush about the whole operation of the president asking him to look into what was on page 47. Being the good Samaritan he was Ben had agreed, he wouldn't tell Riley or Abigail about what he had found or if he had even found anything. Of course he promised to fill them in once the president called him again and as it would seem, Ben wasn't going to go back on that promise. Riley had had so many theories on what was on that page, it was the presidents book after all, that left for a lot of room to expand. Whenever he tried to talk to Ben about his theories Ben would just ignore him or refuse to answer.  
Riley reached over and turned off the light hoping that would put his mind at ease and allow him to drift off to sleep again. However all the theories he had came flooding back and he tried to figure out which one was correct. When he couldn't take thinking about it anymore he stood up and walked into the front room, he clicked on his TV and sat down on the couch. As was usual the TV was on the history channel, it was all Riley could stand to watch. Strange Egypt was on, which was one of his least favorite shows on the history channel but he watched it anyway. Riley wasn't exactly sure when he had fallen asleep, somewhere between learning how Egyptian people used to keep organs in jars and how to build wealth quickly, which he was sure was a different show than Strange Egypt.  
When he woke up the following morning there was a crick in his neck and one of his arms and legs were asleep. He sat up carefully and stretched; he looked at the clock next to him on the nightstand and jumped up. It was 7:20 which meant he had about 15 minutes to pack because he needed the rest of them to get to the airport. He ran into his room and threw any pair of clothes he could find into his suitcase, he ran into the bathroom, took a three minute shower, then grabbed his suitcase and scooted out the door.

After throwing his suitcase in the trunk he slipped into the driver's seat and drove as fast as he could to the airport. He found Ben's car in the parking lot and parked next to it; he pulled his suitcase from the trunk and jogged into the airport. After a ten minute stop at the metal detectors he made it to the center of the airport and searched around for Ben and Abigail.

"Excuse me," a female voice said from behind Riley, he turned around and saw a woman holding a large black suitcase in front of her. "Aren't you Riley Poole, the author of The Templar's Treasure?"

"Yes I am," Riley said, composing himself.

"I absolutely loved your book! Can I have your autograph, please?"

"Sure."

The woman smiled happily and reached into her suitcase pulling out Riley's book, she handed it to him along with a pen.

"I'm Susanna," the woman said, and Riley looked more closely at her. The name Susanna just didn't seem to fit her. She had long silky jet black hair and her eyes were a beautiful shade of chestnut. He turned back to the book and signed it before handing it back to Susanna. "Thank you so much, my sister is going to die when I tell her I met you." Susanna took the book back and placed it in her suitcase. "I know this may sound a little straightforward but my flight doesn't leave for another hour, I was wondering if you'd care to join me for a drink?"

Riley looked down at his watch and saw that his flight left in twenty minutes.

"I would, I really would, but my flight leaves at 8:30," Riley said.

"Oh," Susanna said, sounding very disappointed. "Well, in case you ever do have time." Susanna took Riley's hand and wrote down a number in his palm. "Call me."

Riley watched Susanna walk away and didn't realize the whole time that he had the goofiest smile on his face.

"Riley!" said Ben, appearing on the escalator.

"Hey," Riley said, walking over to Ben.

"What took you so long?"

"I slept in."

"That's not much of an excuse."

Riley rolled his eyes at Ben doing his best to make sure Ben noticed the gesture.

"Hurry up and follow me, we don't want to miss the flight," said Ben. Riley pulled his suitcase along with him and dragged it up the escalator behind Ben. When they reached the next floor Riley followed after Ben, who wasn't really caring whether or not Riley was keeping up. Riley saw Abigail sitting on one of the many chairs in front of a large window, she waved as she spotted Riley and he waved back.

"Throw your suitcase over there, they'll put it on the plane," Ben said, he pointed at a large turning table and Riley walked over to it and put his suitcase on the conveyer belt. He walked over to Ben and Abigail and sat down next to Abigail, he leaned forward and rubbed his neck, it was still sore from sleeping on it wrong.

"Are you okay, Riley?" Abigail asked.

"Slept on my neck wrong," answered Riley, he looked over at Abigail and noticed there wasn't a ring on her finger. That left for one of two options, Ben didn't ask her or she had rejected him. Abigail reached out and grabbed Riley's hand pulling it towards her and putting his palm face up.

"What is this?"  
"Well, generally people can figure out the shapes resemble that of numbers."

"A number?" Ben asked, leaning forward to look as well. "It's about time, Riley."

"About time, I've had dates," said Riley. Ben and Abigail turned to each other then both looked at Riley with blank stares. Riley pulled his hand from Abigail and returned to ignoring them both. "Are you going to tell us anything yet, Ben?"

"When we get on the plane," Ben answered. Riley leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes, sleeping on the couch hadn't really done him much good at all.


	3. Chapter 3

_So, for all of you that I haven't replied to your comments this is for you. THANK YOU! I reaaaaaaally love comments and sometimes I don't get the chance to reply to them until a while after you post them and by then you probably wonder what took me so long. loll I really appreciate them and they make my day! Thankies bunches. ^^ Next order of business, so I am surprised how popular this story is! On previous sites it felt like no one was reading it so I lost interest but thanks to all you lovely readers I have begun writing it again. This is the story that I have the least written up for so updates will be slow sadly, but updates there will be! Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy the new update. Now onto the story!_

_~Fluffy_

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"**PART 3"**

Abigail Chase looked out the open window of the plane; Ben had let her sit on the inside even though Riley had tried to beat her to the seat himself. She was very curious about what Ben had been looking into for the president but had managed to refrain from asking so far. Ben was now speaking to the female flight attendant about getting some peanuts and Riley was doing a terrible job of flirting with her. When she left Ben leaned back in his seat and both Abigail and Riley looked at him expectantly.

"I'm guessing you're both staring holes in my head for a reason?" asked Ben.

"Well if I remember right you said something about confiding in us when we got on the plane," said Riley.

"Did I?"

"Ben," Abigail said, giving him a stern look.

"Alright, alright, I did," said Ben, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, handing it to Abigail first.

"It's numbers," Abigail said. "It's a photograph of numbers."

"That is what was on page 47," said Ben. Abigail looked over the paper once more before handing it to Riley.

"These are numbers that have been written out in letters," said Riley.

"Surprisingly enough, Riley, I had figured that part out myself," said Ben.

"Well, tell us, Ben, since you're the genius here, have you found anything out about these numbers?"

"As a matter of fact, I believe I have," said Ben. "I think that these represent longitudes and latitudes."

"You think?" asked Riley.

"If you count all of them there are enough to have an even amount of longitudes and latitudes."

"Say these _are_ longitudes and latitudes, there are tons of them on this page, it would take us years to go to each one. How do we even know if they're in order and which ones a longitude or a latitude?"

"As it turns out I've done a bit of research on this, Riley, I looked up every combination of longitudes and latitudes possible from this list. I was able to eliminate those that are located in the ocean, there were even some that weren't longitudes and latitudes at all, some were even repeated. What I have left over are these fifteen locations." Ben reached into his pocket and drew out another list which had a line of fifteen longitudes and latitudes. "I'm going to give them to the president and see if maybe he can add any insight."

"Don't you think if he had any insight he wouldn't have asked for your help in the first place?"

"Riley, could you not be negative for once in your life?" Abigail asked.

"Well, if he did that he'd have to change his name," said Ben.

"Speaking of changing names," Riley said, and picked up his left hand where he wiggled his fingers in front of Ben. Abigail tried to figure out what she was missing, especially when Ben pulled Riley's hand down and shoved Riley to his feet before Ben stood up himself.

"We'll be right back, Abbey," Ben said, he poked his finger into Riley's back and made him move forward down the aisle. Abigail took both the papers they had left and looked over the longitudes and latitudes once more, she was hoping she might be able to find something that Ben had missed. All she found however were the exact same things Ben had; she sighed and folded the papers up. She looked out the window of the airplane once again but couldn't see anything except the clouds; she turned back to the chairs when she heard Ben and Riley return.

"I have a question, Ben," Abigail said.

"Well, by all means, ask it," Ben said grinning.

"Why keep it all so secret, if all you were doing was finding longitudes and latitudes why not let us help?"

"Because the president requested I not tell anyone else until he called again."

"What has changed?"

"I don't know, he's cryptic."

"Can you tell us why we're meeting him now?"

"He wouldn't say, he keeps his phone calls short and to the point."

"It's good to know he trusts you," Riley said sarcastically.

"I don't think it's me he doesn't trust, saying anything over an unsecured line could be heard by anyone," said Ben.

"We'll have to wait till we get there to find out everything," said Abigail.

"Hopefully, the president and Ben both haven't been too eager to share much with us yet," Riley said.

Ben and Abigail both turned to each other and sighed in annoyance but Riley stopped mumbling after that, and Abigail leaned over and rested her head on Ben's shoulder.


	4. Chapter 4

"**PART 4"**

"Alright, we're outside the gate," Riley said, he looked down at his watch once more. "We have been for the last half hour."

"Thanks for the update, Riley, I had forgotten since the last time you said that about five minutes ago," said Ben. Riley leaned back against the wall once more and Ben began to tap his foot impatiently. He knew he hadn't heard the president wrong, he'd told him to wait outside the gate and someone would be there to let them in.

"Do you think maybe there's some kind of trick to getting in?" asked Riley.

"What do you mean, Riley?" Ben asked.

"What did the president say, exactly, when he called you?"

"He said…..I'll have my people meet you at the gate."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

"Huh…..that doesn't really leave much to try and decipher."

"Maybe that's because there's no trick," Abigail said. "He's the president; he might just be busy or forgot."

Ben watched Riley begin to poke at the gate and the bushes near it, he looked over at Abigail and she looked back at him rolling her eyes. If they had to wait out here any longer people were going to start to wonder whether they were plotting to assassinate the president. Riley had gone to the edge of the gate a good distance from them and Abigail had sat down in the patch of grass in front of the White House. Ben stood in front of the gates with his arms crossed, he thought once again on the phone call wondering if it had been a code. As he did the gates opened and four guards stepped out, they were dressed in black and each had a gun holster at their side.

"Benjamin Gates?" one of them asked.

"That would be me," said Ben, stepping forward.

"We'll need some ID to verify, sir."

Ben reached into his pocket and pulled out his license. "Will that do or do you need a birth certificate as well?"

The guard took his ID and looked it over from front to back before handing it back to Ben.

"Come inside, bring your friends," the same guard said, Abigail stood up and walked over to Ben but Riley still seemed oblivious to the whole thing.

"Riley! Ben called.

"Hold on, I think I have something!" Riley called back.

"Riley!"  
Shhh!"

Ben watched Riley stand up from his kneeling position holding a sprinkler line, he turned around, saw Ben, Abigail and the four guards and dropped the line.

"Exactly like I thought, it's a sprinkler line!" Riley said, and Ben chuckled, Riley made his way over to them and the guards led them into the White House. The guard left them in one of the many front rooms and they waited a few moments before the president walked in.

"Mr. Gates," said the President. "Ms. Chase, Mr. Poole."

"Good to see you again, Mr. President," said Ben. Abigail and Riley nodded in acknowledgment.

"Have a seat."

Ben took one of the loveseat couches and Abigail took the seat next to him while Riley took one of the chairs nearby.

"Have you found anything more?" asked the president.

"I believe I have," said Ben, he took the paper with the fifteen longitudes and latitudes written on it and handed it to the president. "Do any of those mean anything to you?"

The president looked over the paper for a few moments then reached into his pocket and pulled out a pen. He marked off a few times on the paper then turned it around and showed it to them.

"These five are locations only I am allowed to know about, this one I highly doubt would be useful, along with these two," the president said pointing at the numbers that had only one checkmark next to each. "These two however, I believe they're worth looking into." he pointed at the last two that had two checkmarks. "I say you try those."

"It will take a few days or so, both of those are on different sides of the US," Ben said, taking back the paper.

"I can help with that."

He signaled one of the guards and he walked forward and leaned in towards the president and the president whispered into his ear, the guard nodded then left.

"Follow me," said the president. He stood up as did Ben, Abigail and Riley; they followed the president to the back of the white house where a helicopter was sitting on a landing pad. "Tracy will take you to both of these locations; you should be back before the sun sets."

Ben smiled and looked back at Abigail and Riley who both shrugged and they all got inside the helicopter.

"What if what we're looking for isn't at either of these locations?" asked Ben.

"Then you can try the other three," said the president, he then backed up and Ben heard the chopper start. It took a few moments to warm up then it lifted off the ground, Ben reached next to him and grabbed the headset. He put the headset on and Abigail and Riley followed his lead.

"Do you think either of these is right?" asked Riley.

"I don't know, but if they are I'm sure there will be more to it," answered Ben. "Nothing is ever easy."

"At least not for us," Abigail replied, and Ben chuckled.


	5. Chapter 5

_Okay! So, this is the newest chapter I have written up so I hope it's good cause I had to get back into the National Treasure state of mind. Good news? I have figured out where exactly I'm taking the story which means I now have ideas of what to write. -squee- Hope you enjoy and know that I might take a little longer with updating this story cause I need to write up the new chapter. ;)_

_~Fluffy_

_********************************_

"**PART 5"**

Riley reached up and held onto the handle as the helicopter began to descend, it was bumpy and he had to hold on tight to stop from bouncing. Finally they landed and Riley pulled off his headset and hung it back where he had gotten it. He followed Ben and Abigail out of the helicopter and onto the ground, the sound of the propellers died as the helicopter shut down. The first thing Riley noticed was the heat. It was a dry heat that after a few seconds was already causing beads of sweat to form on his brow.  
Second, he noticed how dead and sepia toned everything looked. Browns of all colors surrounded him with bouts of green plants that were definitely cactuses and rolling mountains that appeared blue from the distance. Riley wasn't sure exactly where they were, it had been too loud to talk on the helicopter. Though he hated the heat and was already tugging back and forth on his shirt to provide a breeze, the complete change from greenery and water was refreshing, though bright. He really regretted not packing a pair of sunglasses. Ben was talking to Tracey and Abigail was using the paper of longitudes and latitudes to fan herself. Riley walked over to her and could already feel the sun soaking into his skin.

"Where are we?" Riley asked.

"Arizona," answered Abigail. "Douglas, I think, it was hard to hear Ben over the chopper."

Riley had a hard time staring at Abigail; her skin seemed to reflect the sun like a mirror. "Your skin is really bright."

Abigail scoffed. "Look who's talking."

Ben reached them at that point and took the paper from Abigail.

"They landed us as close as they could, it should just be a short walk from here to get to the exact coordinates," said Ben.

"And if we die of dehydration or heat stroke before then?" Riley asked.

"People live here, Riley, and they're still alive."

"Are they all camels?"

"Come on, the quicker we go the faster we'll get done."

Ben held up his phone and then pointed to the West and Riley and Abigail followed along behind him. They passed by the oddest assortment of plants Riley had ever seen and once he even saw a roadrunner and kept getting the feeling Wiley the Coyote was going to pop out. The least fun experience of the trip was when Riley heard a rattle coming from right next to his left foot. He knew exactly what was causing the sound and instantly panicked. A moment after he had jumped to his right and fallen into a cactus he saw the rattlesnake strike at air.  
Ben and Abigail pulled him up and they backed as far away from the snake as they could. After a moment's break, where Abigail and Ben pulled cactus needles out of Riley's back, they trudged on. Ben's phone began to make a beeping sound and Ben looked down at it.

"It's right here," Ben said, looking around. "We should be right on top of it."

Riley carefully looked around making sure no snakes were hiding and no jumping cactus were going to get in his legs. He looked behind a bush when he heard Abigail scream and quickly turned to see here disappear through the ground. Ben and Riley reached her too late and when they looked down they saw a hole in the dirt. Abigail was lying at the bottom of the hole, coughing and covered in scratches.

"Are you okay, Abbey?" asked Ben.

"I think so," Abigail replied, sitting up slowly and looking over her body. "I don't think I broke anything."

"What do you see?" Riley asked, and Ben looked at Riley with a, _is that really important right now?_ Look. Riley mouthed, _what?_ As innocently as he could and they both turned back to Abigail.

"I'm not sure, it's hard to see," Abigail answered.

"Hold on, Riley will lower me down," Ben said.

"Riley will what?" Riley asked, turning to look at Ben who was already sitting down after testing the stability around the hole Abigail had fallen through.

"Hurry up, Riley, we don't have all day," Ben said, reaching out his hands for Riley to take. Rolling his eyes Riley walked over to Ben, grasped his hands, and used all his strength to lower him into the hole. For a moment after he had released Ben, Riley got off balance and almost fell in but caught himself and backed up before kneeling down and peering in at Ben and Abigail. Ben was looking over Abigail, making sure she wasn't hurt and they began to talk to each other and Riley couldn't hear what they were saying.

"If at any point you'd like to look around that'd be great," Riley called down. "It's only about 200 degrees out here."

Which reminded Riley that he was sweating, a lot, and he wiped the arm of his sleeve across his forehead. Ben stood up and helped Abigail to her feet, Riley saw Ben take his phone out of his pocket and then he disappeared and Abigail began dusting herself off.

"That was a pretty awesome fall, Abigail," Riley said, and Abigail glared at Riley before stalking off to join Ben. Again Riley heard them talking but not loud enough for him to hear, he considering going into the hole but he wasn't sure how he would get back out. He swatted gnats away from his face and ears but kept alert for the sound of a snake sneaking up on him.

"Well?" Riley called out. There was silence and then Ben walked out and looked up at Riley.

"I think we're in the right place but there's a problem," Ben said.

"Which would be?" Riley asked.

"It's a clue leading to the right location but it's been here a while, some of the hints have been worn away."

"What does that mean?"

"It means, we're going to be a while."

"Are you serious? What am I supposed to do?"

"Keep watch."


	6. Chapter 6

_Sorry about the long wait, guys! I've been sick and thus have been having a HUGE case of writer's block. Short chapter too but, hey, it's a chapter, right? I have a very good idea where the story is going but I'm having trouble getting there. Trying to come up with a plausible way that isn't far-fetched is kind of the point I'm at. Anywho, enjoy!  
~Fluffy_

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"**PART 6"  
**Ben swept his hand across the writing on the wall, trying to get as much dirt off from them as possible. He knew if he could decipher them he could somehow use them to figure out the writing that had been worn away. Abigail was beside him, taking pictures with her phone,which she sent to Riley's e-mail to open later.

"Any progress?" Riley asked, sticking his head over the hole above them. Abigail walked over to the hole and looked up at Riley with her hands on her hips.

"We'll never get anything done, Riley, if you keep asking for progress reports every five minutes," Abigail replied, and Riley glared down at her before disappearing. Ben and Abigail looked at each other, shaking their heads, then went back to looking at the writings. Ben went to where he believed the beginning of the writing started and tried to figure out what language it was. Next to him, Abigail had stopped taking pictures with her phone and looked straight at the wall, Ben could basically see the light bulb above her head.

"Abigail," Ben said, and she turned to him.

"I think I know what language this is," Abigail replied, pointing at one part of the writing. "It's Celtic."

"How do you know that?"

"The French language was influenced by old Celtic languages; they speak it at the Peninsula of Brittany in France."

"Can you read it?"

"No, the Celtic languages are very difficult to learn, they tried to teach me a few words but I couldn't seem to pick it up."

"Looks like we need to find ourselves a translator then."

Abigail nodded in agreement and finished taking the last few pictures on the wall while Ben walked over to the hole.

"Alright, Riley, we're done," Ben said, and Riley immediately appeared above the hole.

"Great, I'll just be merely sun burnt instead of crispy," Riley said, and reached out his hands to Ben. He pulled Ben up until Ben could take the side of the hole and help pull himself out, still with Riley helping incase he fell. Then they both reached their hands into the hole and grabbed Abigail, finding it easier to pull her out. Silently the three of them walked back to the helicopter, using Ben's phone to make sure they didn't get lost. Tracy was sitting inside the helicopter, sipping water and looking at a magazine.

He looked up when they approached and Riley immediately requested water, Tracy grabbed three out of a cooler and handed them to each in turn. Ben uncapped his water bottle and sipped half the liquid down in his first sip. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve then turned to Tracy.

"We need to get back to Washington," Ben said. Tracy nodded and jabbed his finger inside the helicopter. Everyone climbed in, fastened their belts, and slipped on their headsets. The helicopter warmed up and after a few minutes kicked off the ground and began to soar through the air. Ben knew there was no point in talking to Abigail or Riley with the roaring helicopter and figured they'd get a chance to talk once they arrived back in Washington. Riley was looking at his pink skin that was beginning to get a bit redder as the ride went on. Next to him, Abigail's skin was also pink but he thought it looked cute on her.

She looked up and saw him staring, with a smile on his lips, and mouthed "what?" He just shook his head and she rolled her eyes but had a smile on her face as well. For the rest of the trip Ben kept wondering whether the Celtic writing was going to say any clue as to what they were heading towards. It seemed there was always more clues than was necessary but he supposed that's what stopped people from stumbling onto something they could ruin. After what seemed like an even longer flight, the helicopter set down on top of the White House. The three unloaded and Tracy told them to wait in the room they had been in earlier.

With the help of another guard, they were lead into the nice front room again. Ben sat down on the couch and Abigail sat next to him, Riley picked an armchair.

"So, what'd you find down there?" Riley asked.

"Not sure," Ben said, wondering why he was the only one who wasn't getting a sunburn. "We need a translator to decipher an old Celtic language."

"You found an old Celtic language then?"

"Yes, Riley, we found a small room with Celtic writing running around it from top to bottom," answered Abigail. Riley seemed content with her answer, and leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

"The President has stepped out for the day; he said that he can't provide the helicopter for you from now on but he'd like for you to still continue your search. He'll be in touch," Tracy said, basically appearing in the doorway.

"That's our queue to go," Ben said, standing up. Abigail and Riley followed the action and were lead out of the White House by Tracy.

"A cab should be here for you momentarily, it will be taking you to your hotel where your luggage has already been taken," Tracy said, before leaving them standing outside the gate.

"Well, that seems a little contradictory," Riley said. "Agreeing to help us then rescinding his help altogether."

"He's the president, Riley, I'm sure there are more important things he needs to be doing than babysitting us," said Ben.

"Which means, if the next location is far away, we're going to have to fly coach again aren't we?"

"Which is something we did long before we flew on the President's helicopter."

"True, but now I know how much quicker, and less crowded, flying on the President's helicopter is."

Ben watched as a yellow cab approached, stopping right in front of the White House and figured that had to be theirs. He opened the door and Abigail and Riley stepped inside, he followed, shutting the door behind him. The driver pulled forward and began to drive down the road. Ben turned to look out the window and saw the sun was already setting, he doubted they'd find anyone to translate the writing for them till the next day. Riley was rubbing the back of his neck but then winced and stopped; his neck was clearly bright red.  
Abigail was looking down at her arms, gently touching them. When she pressed into her arm her finger left a white mark amongst the slowly reddening skin. Both her and Riley looked at Ben, almost as if it was his fault they were burnt because he wasn't. He smiled and inwardly chuckled, before relaxing back in his seat, trying to plan out what they'd do come morning.


	7. Chapter 7

_Sorry it took so long to update, guys! My inspiration has been a little low for this story and then this month has been crazy busy. Next month is also NaNo, which means I won't be updating my stories unless the chapter is already written up. If you're participating and want to hit me up, my username there is fluffyaddict. I hope you enjoy the new chapter!_

_~Fluffy_

_************************_

"**PART 7" **  
Riley woke up in a very scratchy, hard bed and remembered that he was sleeping in a hotel. He sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes and picked out clothes from his bag. After he had showered and finished his morning routine he figured he'd head downstairs and scour for breakfast. He grabbed his keycard and wallet and stepped out of his room, walking to the one next to his and knocking. After a moment Ben answered in only a towel, soap suds still on his skin. Riley put a hand over his eyes and then rolled them.

"I really didn't need to see that this early in the morning," said Riley.

"What do you want, Riley?" asked Ben.

"Do you seriously answer the door for people half-naked?"

"You're not people, Riley, now what do you want?"

"My sight back."

Ben went to shut the door but Riley stopped him.

"I'm going to get some breakfast, you or Abigail want to join me?" asked Riley.

"Yeah, come in, I'm almost done," Ben replied.

Riley walked inside the room and Ben shut the door behind him and returned to the bathroom. Abigail was sitting on the bed, brushing through her hair and watching the news on TV.

"Hey, Abbey," said Riley.

"Good morning, Riley, how'd you sleep?" asked Abigail.

"Fine, you?"

"Bed could have been softer."

Riley stepped over to the table next to the open window and sat down on one of the chairs. He looked briefly at the news but none of the stories were interesting to him. Abigail had finished brushing her hair and had moved on to fixing her make-up in a little hand mirror.

"Alright, I'm done," Ben said, emerging from the bathroom fully clothed.

"I just need to fix my mascara," Abigail said, heading to the bathroom and shutting the door. Ben walked over to Riley and sat down in the chair opposite him.

"Any plans on when you're going to pop the question?" asked Riley.

"Shhh, Riley, she's just right there," whispered Ben, pointing at the bathroom. "This is the sort of thing women remember forever, something they tell their friends and fawn over to their children. I don't want to just ask her at some hotel during another excursion, especially when I had the perfect time planned the first time."

"Okay, I'm ready," Abigail said, stepping out of the bathroom and grabbing her purse. Riley and Ben stood up and all three shuffled out of the room and got into the elevator, taking them to the dining room floor. It sat on a balcony looking out onto the ground floor; Ben picked a table next to the railing and Riley say down along with Abigail.

"So, where do we go from here?" Abigail asked.

"I called around this morning and found someone to translate the Celtic writing for us, she said to come by in the afternoon and she'd help us," answered Ben.

"Where is she at?" asked Riley.

"Not far from here, about a twenty minute drive. She works in the natural history museum."

"I suppose we'll head that way after we eat then?"

"Works for me."

After a while a waiter came up to them and took their orders, Riley got banana pancakes and a large glass of milk. When their food arrived, Riley rubbed butter on all three pancakes them smothered them in syrup. He managed to eat all three pancakes along with two glasses of milk and even some of Abigail's bacon. When they had all finished they paid for their meal then went downstairs to call for a cab. It took them a while to get one to stop but eventually they did and it took them down to the museum.

Ben paid the driver and the trio walked into the history museum. Riley found himself wandering off while looking at the exhibits and Abigail had to steer him back in the right direction. They found the office Ben was looking for; it had the words Amelia Mith written on them. Ben knocked and they heard a voice telling them to come inside. Riley followed after Ben and saw it was a decent sized office, with a desk and bookcases lined with books. There were two chairs positioned in front of the desk and one kitty corner to the left with a large plant beside it. Ben and Abigail took the two desk chairs so Riley walked to the one by the plant and sat.

"Hello, Ms. Mith, I explained on the phone that I need some Celtic writing to be translated," said Ben.

"Call me Amelia and yes, I studied Celtic during my stay in France a few years back," Amelia answered, she was an older woman, maybe 40s or 50s, with graying brown hair and large round bifocal glasses pushed to the end of her nose.

"If my friend could use your computer we could open the writing for you."

"Of course."

Ben looked at Riley, who stood up, tickling his nose on the leaf of the plant. He held in a sneeze and walked to the computer placed on the desk. It took Riley a few clicks to get into his e-mail but once he had he opened various images for Amelia to look at. He moved out of the way and Amelia sat down and moved her chair in front of the computer. She looked at the various images and wrote across a slip of paper. Riley tried to read it but her handwriting was sloppy and also in cursive, making reading it upside down even more difficult.

"The same thing is repeated several times, as if the writer wanted to make sure there were plenty of chances to get the translation if one section was destroyed," Amelia said, turning back towards the three. "It says, in the sixteenth century a land was claimed and lost but never forgotten. A piece of this land was left but not yet discovered. Only with that piece can the land be unlocked and the truth be told."

Amelia handed the paper to Ben who read it over.

"Thank you, Amelia, you've been very helpful," Ben said.

"Glad to help, any idea what it means?" asked Amelia.

"Not at all."

Amelia smiled and the three told her goodbye and headed back towards the entrance to the museum.

"Any thoughts?" Riley asked.

"No, I have no idea what this means, lets head back to the hotel and see if we can come up with anything," answered Ben. Riley and Abigail nodded and followed Ben out to call another cab.


	8. Chapter 8

_Sorry about the wait and such a short update chapter, guys! I'm trying to get back into writing this story and remembering exactly where I was taking it. Sorry again if the chapter isn't that great. :-/ Hopefully the next one will be better and longer, I hope you guys like it anyway!_

_~Fluffy_

* * *

"**PART 8"**

Ben sat at the desk in his hotel room, staring at the translated text as if hoping it would just pop up and explain itself. Riley was on his laptop doing various searches on things that happened in the sixteenth century and Abigail was sitting next to Riley, reading over his shoulder.

"Any luck?" Ben asked.

"Sort of," answered Riley, and Ben turned to look at him.

"We keep getting the same thing popping up every time we search," said Abigail. "The Roanoke Colony."

Ben stood from his desk and walked over to the two, squeezing on the other side of Riley, which there wasn't much room considering the couch was only made for two. Riley clicked the first link on the Roanoke Colony and Ben read as Riley scrolled. Ben had heard about the colony before but had never had much reason to look that far into it.

"The lost colony," said Ben, matching the title to the translation. "We need to get to South Carolina."

"But what about the part in the translation where we need whatever was left to unlock something?" asked Riley.

"Was there ever anything important discovered at the Roanoke site?"

Riley's fingers flew across the keyboard as he typed in different things and then he clicked on a link showing a ring.

"Archeologists discovered a gold sixteenth century signet ring in 1998," Abigail said, reading the information out loud. "A piece of the land was lost and not yet discovered, at least not at the time the text was written."

"It currently resides at East Carolina University," Riley added. "Just a shot in the dark here but I don't believe the North Carolinians are just going to let us borrow the ring."

"They didn't let us borrow the Declaration of Independence either," said Abigail.

"Or the president," added Ben.

"How many crimes do you think we can commit and get pardoned from before we go to jail permanently?" asked Riley.

"Time to pack, we'll leave tonight," Ben said, grabbing his phone and dialing the airlines to find three tickets to North Carolina as quick as possible. He argued with various people about getting a ticket at such short notice but Ben was persistent and managed to pick up three tickets when the previous owners had to cancel their flight. Ben then returned to Riley and Abigail who were still reading over the laptop.

"We need to get to the airport by 7," said Ben.

"I'm going," Riley said, shutting his laptop then leaving to go pack his things and Abigail and Ben began to do the same. Ben pulled his suitcase on the bed and opened it up; putting in all the things he had taken out since their stay.

"Riley does have a point you know," said Abigail, folding up a shirt.

"That's rare," Ben joked.

"I'm serious, Ben." Abigail stopped packing and turned to him. "What we do is dangerous, not just stealing _very_ important things, but we've almost died more times that I can count on both hands. What if we ever have a family together? We can't go off treasure hunting with a baby in each arm; you know what that life is like."

"What are you saying, Abigail, do you not want to do this?"

"Even if I said I didn't I know you couldn't let it go," said Abigail. "That's the problem; I need you to stop when I ask because I'll only ask if it's important."

Ben set down his bag and walked over to Abigail, taking both her hands in his.

"If you asked me, right now, to let this one go I would," Ben said, looking her straight in the eye so she could see that he was telling the truth. "You are the most important thing to me, Abigail, and I almost lost you once. Do you really think I'd be stupid enough to do it again?"

"You _would_ have to be pretty stupid," Abigail said, smiling and Ben leaned down and kissed her.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

"We're already this far, might as well see where it takes us."

"Okay."

Ben then returned to his suitcase and Abigail did the same, he didn't understand where that sudden outburst had come from but he couldn't entirely blame her. It hadn't been easy growing up with his dad off hunting treasures all the time and his mom being unable to stop him. He did know what it was like and if he ever had children he swore he would never do that to them, even though hew knew giving up treasure hunting would be hard. Ben had made a promise though right then that he would and he knew he would seal it when he asked Abigail to marry him.


	9. Chapter 9

_Wo0t! Pretty long chapter for me. I'm really working on making sure I finish this story. I HATE leaving stories unfinished, it drives me crazy. I'll try to write up chapters as fast as I can but I can't promise how soon updates will come and such but I _am_ going to finish this story. I hope you enjoy this new update, it was really fun to write! ^^_

_~Fluffy_

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"**PART 9"**  
Riley walked through the front doors of East Carolina University with Ben and Abigail. The three had claimed they were interested in attending the university and wanted to look around campus. They had gotten day passes and had been allowed to spend the day looking at whatever they wanted. Of course they were only interested in looking at one thing and that was where they went to first, Joyner Library. They quietly walked through the library before they got to the case that held the ring. It was on top of a velvet pillow amongst other trinkets that had been discovered around North Carolina.

Riley was sure there was some type of security system that would sound the second they decided to take the ring. If that didn't alert security then the sound of breaking glass would, then Riley got an idea. He walked up close to Ben and whispered the idea to him and he gave a pleased face.

"I'll take care of the ring, you and Abigail stay here," said Ben, and a moment later he left and Riley approached Abigail and told her the plan.

"Not bad, Riley," she said, and Riley gave a fake bow. "We better not hang around here or it will throw suspicion."

Riley and Abigail left the library and went into the main building, trying to look as though they really were checking out the place. As Riley passed by a classroom he stopped and looked through the open door. A very familiar face was coming out of the classroom and laughing with an older man who looked like a professor.

"Enjoy the rest of the university," the man said, and then the other person looked at Riley and smiled.

"Riley Poole," she said, laughing. "Are you following me?"

"Susanna," said Riley, and Abigail seemed to recognize the name from Riley mentioning Susanna a few days ago and discreetly continued on. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm looking to join the university, it may be a little later than most people but I figure you're never too old to learn," Susanna said, shrugging. "What about you?"

"Same."

"That's great! Why did you decide to look here?"

"I've been looking lots of places," Riley said, trying to think of a plausible lie. "I heard the faculty here is one of the best though and it has some classes I'd really like to take. How about you?"

"I grew up here and I decided to come back home and see my family and they've convinced me to stay."

"Would you care to look around the university together?"

"I'd love to."

Riley fell in step beside Susanna and thought about what a small world it was to run into her here. They walked together around the various places in the university and talked a bit about themselves. Susanna explained that she wanted to become a veterinarian assistant because she had always loved animals. Riley told her he wanted to try out computer science because he was best working with electronics. As they were passing near the library again Riley saw Ben looking at a few displays, trying to look discreet.

"Could I meet you later for dinner or something?" asked Riley, and Susanna smiled.

"Yeah, I'd like that," she replied.

"Great! I'm sorry to have to leave you so soon but I came here with my friend, Ben." Riley pointed at Ben. "And he gets touchy when I flake on him."

"Oh! That's okay, I was planning to leave soon, I've been here since this morning and seen just about everything. Do you still have my number?"

"Yes."

"I'm staying in a hotel about 20 minutes from here, call me and let me know what time you're picking me up."

Susanna kissed Riley on the cheek and then waved goodbye as she walked away with Riley's eyes glued to her as she went. Abigail had come from the opposite side from Ben and Riley turned away from Susanna and wrapped his arm around Abigail as they walked into the library. Once they were in front of the case with the ring Abigail wrapped her arms around Riley's neck and smiled at him.

"Are you ready for this?" she whispered.

"Yeah, do you have it?" asked Riley, and Abigail just nodded. Not a moment later Riley heard Ben making quite the scene as he decided to _stomp_ into the room.

"What the hell is this?" he asked, looking between Riley and Abigail. Abigail pretended to look shocked and Riley tried to mimic her as she pulled away and began to play with her. "Are you cheating me on me, Abigail?"

"So what if I am?" asked Abigail, stepping towards Ben. "It's not like you've ever paid enough attention to me to care what I do in my spare time."

"That's not true!"

"Oh, really? This has been going on for months and you were never suspicion of anything! We've basically thrown it in your face and you're only noticing now because there's nothing else in this place that's more interesting than me to you."

"How could you do this to me, Riley?" Ben asked, walking towards Riley and grabbing him by the shirt. "You're supposed to be my best friend!"

"Maybe if you treated her better I wouldn't have spent so much time trying to console her," Riley replied. Ben then pushed Riley back, hard, and he fell into the case knocking it over and causing him to fall on it as the glass shattered all around him.

"Look what you've done!" Abigail cried, walking over to Riley and kneeling next to him, he saw her switching out the rings discreetly as she leaned over him. "Now who's going to pay for this mess?"

A moment later guards were hovering around them. Once Riley got to his feet they escorted them all into an empty room and Riley happily sat down as his whole entire body now ached. He had glass poking into various parts on his body and his back was killing him.

"What was that all about?" a male overweight security guard asked, huffing a bit from having to move around more than usual.

"I'll tell you what it's about, officer," said Ben. "I found my girlfriend cheating on me with my best friend."

"Is this true?"

"Yes, it is," said Abigail, standing beside Riley and fussing over him. "If you knew how he was you'd be cheating on him too."

"Don't try to pin this all on me, Abigail, you-" Ben tried to say but the guard cut him off.

"I don't care what problems you folks have," said the guard. "You were lucky all the items in that case were tough and not able to be broken or you'd be in worse trouble. As it is you've damaged our property and we're going to need you to pay for that. You have also been banned from ever stepping foot inside East Carolina University again. Understand?"

"Abigail, give me my checkbook," said Ben. Abigail rolled her eyes and pulled a checkbook from her purse and handed it to Ben. He took the checkbook and the guard handed him a pen and told him the price. Riley's eyes grew big at how much it cost to break a stupid glass case but he knew Ben could afford it. Ben ripped the check off and handed it to the guard.

"Great, now get the hell out of here," the guard said, and Abigail helped Riley stand and all three of them walked out of the university and out to the parking lot where they had parked their rent-a-car. Ben got into the driver's seat and Riley carefully slid into the back as Abigail took shotgun.

"That was perfect!" Ben said, laughing. "They really bought it."

"I would have liked a stunt double," Riley groaned.

"How are you doing?" Abigail asked, turning around in her seat to look at him.

"Honestly, I hurt. I have glass everywhere and it is really annoying, they're like little splinters but much more painful."

"We'll get to the hotel and I'll help you get the glass out."

"Thanks."

Ben had started the car and was pulling out onto the street.

"Who was that brunette I saw you talking to in there, Riley?" asked Ben.

"Susanna," Riley replied.

"No kidding, the girl you met at the airport?"

"That same one."

"What a coincidence."

"I have a dinner date with her tonight."

"Way to go, Riley!"

Ben winked at Riley in the mirror and he saw Ben take his right hand and slip it into Abigail's and bring it to his lips, where he kissed it. Abigail smiled lovingly at him and Riley wondered when Ben was going to buck up and propose to her already.


End file.
